Biotech: Market Position, Inform Online
One of their best lessons biotech companies can learn from today's recessionary economy is the necessity of taking a more sophisticated approach to leveraging the Internet, in general, and their Web site design, specifically, as a business tool. In recent years, biotech companies have become more disciplined about designing sites that are customer-centric and clearly focused on meeting the specific needs of their various audiences in ways that are tailored to how those audiences want information presented.
A Web site is a biotech organization's most public face. It provides the first impression to potential employees, partners, investors and the media, and serves as a critical information resource to these constituencies on an ongoing basis. Understanding the dual purposes a Web site plays - to both effectively market a company's brand and industry position and serve as an information tool - and then ensuring the overall brand promise remains true to both those purposes is key to designing a site that effectively meets the needs of all its constituencies.
Pulling together your web site can seem overwhelming, but there are a few simple steps to keep in mind to ensure you are putting your best foot forward and delivering quality information to your audience.
- It sounds elementary, but it is essential to talk to your audiences beforehand to assess their needs from your Web site. It's too easy to make incorrect assumptions about your target audiences' perceptions of your organization or how they'll use your site. Conducting preliminary qualitative research is well worth the investment to ensure your site is aligned with the specific needs of your audiences, both from a demographic and psychographic perspective.
- Deliver what they want. The target audience for many biotech Web sites is comprised largely of scientists and researchers. This group is extremely Internet-savvy, has been on the Internet since its inception and is sophisticated in its approach to Web sites. They are interested in research, attracted to hard facts and information and understand how to leverage the Internet to get the information they need.
- Know the rules. The FDA has a strong voice in overseeing the marketing content on biotech sites. A biotech company must be mindful of what it promises and how it can deliver against that promise. And the FDA is only becoming more stringent in its reviews of Web sites as it becomes more familiar with the power of the Internet. Chances are good your audience will be more receptive to marketing messages that are factual, clear and jargon-free, anyway.
- Be true to your identity. The use of what we call ?eye candy? has also shifted since the start of the recession. Design today must have a direct connection back to the brand and audience needs, and provide a real value to the overall user experience. But this doesn't mean design has to be dull. The use of Flash, for instance, continues to increase. Flash can be a great information source versus HTML because it compresses files and allows for movement to create a message that's more alive in the minds of your audience.
Biotech companies continue to recognize where the Internet fits in as a marketing tool in its chain of customer touch points. A Web site must be supported, cohesive in a company's overall brand and can't be expected to do everything on its own.
By knowing your audience and its needs and staying focused on your organization's brand promise (who you are, the core values you represent and how you conducts business), you will provide the continuum between serving as a marketing tool and an information resource.
# # #Chris Klaehn is a partner with Watertown, Mass.-based Corey McPherson Nash. Corey McPherson Nash is an integrated branding and design firm that works extensively with biotech companies across the country. More information on Corey McPherson Nash can be found at www.cmndesign.com.